SOURCE: CAIN (Conflict
Archive on the Internet) http://cain.ulst.ac.uk
Text and Research: Martin
Melaugh
The Civil Rights Campaign
- A Chronology of Main Events
1964
Campaign
for Social Justice (CSJ) formed. The CSJ was the forerunner of the civil rights
movement and it began a programme of publicising what it saw as widespread
discrimination, in a number of areas of life, against Catholics in Northern
Ireland.
1967
1
February 1967
The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) was formed. The Civil
Rights Movement called for a number of reforms one of which was for “one man,
one vote”, that is, a universal franchise for local government elections. At
the time only rate-payers were entitled to votes, and there were other
anomalies to do with additional votes for companies. The association also
campaigned for the end to gerrymandering of electoral boundaries. Other reforms
pressed for included: the end to perceived discrimination in the allocation of
public sector housing and appointments to, particularly, public sector
employment; the repeal of the Special Powers Act; and the disbandment of the
“B-Specials” (Ulster Special Constabulary) which was a paramilitary style reserve
police force which was entirely Protestant in its makeup.
November 1967
The Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC) was formed.
1968
Monday
25(?) March 1968
Members of the Derry Housing Action
Committee (DHAC) disrupted a meeting of Londonderry Corporation to protest at
the lack of housing provision in the city.
Saturday
27 April 1968
The Northern Ireland Civil Rights
Association (NICRA) held a rally to protest at the banning of a Republican
Easter parade.
Saturday
25(?) May 1968
The Derry Housing Action Committee
(DHAC) held another protest at the Guildhall in Derry.
Thursday
20 June 1968
The Caledon Protest
Austin
Currie, then Nationalist Member of Parliament (MP) at Stormont, and a number of
others, began a protest about discrimination in the allocation of housing by
“squating” (illegally occupying) in a house in Caledon, County Tyrone. The
house had been allocated by Dungannon Rural District Council to a 19 year-old
unmarried Protestant woman, Emily Beatty, who was the secretary of a local Unionist
politician. Emily Beatty was given the house ahead of older married Catholic
families with children. The protesters were evicted by the Royal Ulster
Constabulary (RUC) and one of the officers was Emily Beatty's brother.
Saturday
22 June 1968
The Derry Housing Action Committee
(DHAC) staged a protest by blocking the Lecky Road in Derry.
Wednesday
3 July 1968
As part of a series of protests
against housing conditions in Derry, the Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC)
held a sit-down protest on the newly opened second deck of the Craigavon Bridge
in the city.
Monday
15(?) July 1968
Matt O'Leary resigned from the chair
of the Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC) and was replaced by Eamon Melaugh.
Thursday
22 August 1968
Society of Labour Lawyers published
a document about alleged discrimination in Northern Ireland.
Saturday
24 August 1968
First Civil Rights March
The
Campaign for Social Justice (CSJ), the Northern Ireland Civil Rights
Association (NICRA), and a number of other groups, held the first “civil rights
march” in Northern Ireland from Coalisland to Dungannon. Loyalists organised a
counter demonstration in an effort to get the march banned (a tactic that was
to be used throughout the period of “the Troubles”) and in fact the planned
rally was banned. Despite this the march passed off without incident. The
publicity surrounding the march acted as encouragement to other protesting
groups to form branches of the NICRA.
Tuesday
27 August 1968
The Derry Housing Action Committee
(DHAC) organised another protest in the Guildhall's council chamber.
Immediately after the protest Eamon Melaugh phoned the Northern Ireland Civil
Rights Association (NICRA) and invited them to organise a march in Derry.
Saturday
31 August 1968
A delegation from the Northern
Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) met with members of the Derry Housing
Action Committee (DHAC) to discuss the proposed march. An Ad-hoc Civil Rights
Committee was established to organise the march on Saturday 5 October 1968. The
Committee did not operate as anticipated and effective control of the march
fell to Eamonn McCann and Eamon Melaugh.
Saturday
7 September 1968
A second meeting was held between
the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) and members of the Derry
Housing Action Committee (DHAC) to discuss the proposed march (the first
meeting was on 31 August 1968).
Tuesday
1 October 1968
The Apprentice Boys of Derry
announced their intention to hold an “annual” march along the same proposed
route of the Civil Rights demonstration, on the same day and at the same time.
[This particular tactic had been used on several occasions before and many
times after the 5 October march. It provided the excuse needed to ban the
march.]
Thursday
3 October 1968
The proposed civil rights march in Derry was banned from the area of the city
centre and the Waterside area under the Public Order Act by William Craig, then
Home Affairs Minister.
Friday
4 October 1968
A Northern Ireland Civil Rights
Association (NICRA) delegation met with the march organisers and tried to have
the march cancelled. Eventually it was decided to go ahead with the march.
Saturday 5 October 1968
Civil Rights March in Derry
(Considered
by many as the start date of the current “Troubles”)
A civil rights march in Derry, which
had been organised by members of the Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC) and
supported by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA), was stopped
by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) before it has properly begun. The marchers had proposed to walk from Duke
Street in the Waterside area of Derry to the Diamond in the centre of the
city. Present at the march were three
British Labour Party Members of Parliament (MP), Gerry Fitt, then Republican
Labour MP, several Stormont MPs, and members of the media including a
television crew from RTE. Estimates of
the number of people taking part in the march differ. Eamonn McCann (one of the organisers of the
march) estimated that about 400 people lined up on the street with a further
200 watching from the pavements. The RUC
broke up the march by baton charging the crowd and leaving many people injured
including a number of MPs. The incidents
were filmed and there was world-wide television coverage. The incidents in Derry had a profound effect
on many people around the world but particularly on the Catholic population of
Northern Ireland. Immediately after the
march there were two days of serious rioting in Derry between the Catholic
residents of the city and the RUC.
Wednesday 9
October 1968
People’s
Democracy Formed
2,000
students from the Queen’s University of Belfast (QUB) tried to march to Belfast
City Hall to protest against “police brutality” on the 5 October 1968 in
Derry. The march was blocked by a
counter demonstration led by Ian Paisley.
A three hour sit down demonstration followed the blocking of the
march. (Following the events of the day
the People’s Democracy (PD) organisation was formed. PD became an important force in the civil
rights movement and a number of those who were leading members in the
organisation, for example Bernadette Devlin and Michael Farrell, became
prominent political activists). The
Derry Citizen’s Action Committee (DCAC) was formed from five protest
organisations which had been active in the city. Ivan Cooper was the first chairman and John
Hume the first vice-chairman of the DCAC.
Tuesday
15 October 1968
The Nationalist Party of Northern
Ireland (NPNI) withdrew from its role as official Stormont opposition.
Wednesday
16 October 1968
The People's Democracy (PD)
organised a march of 1,300 students from the Queen's University of Belfast to
the City Hall in the centre of the city.
Saturday
19 October 1968
Derry Citizen's Action Committee
(established on 9 October 1968) organised an illegal sit-down at Guildhall
Square as part of large civil disobedience campaign. The event passed off
peacefully.
Thursday
24 October 1968
The People's Democracy (PD)
organised a protest demonstration at Stormont Parliament buildings, Belfast.
(?)
Wednesday
30 October 1968
Jack Lynch, then Taoiseach (Irish
Prime Minister), met with Harold Wilson, then British Prime Minister, in
London. The Taoiseach called for the ending of partition as a means to resolve
the unrest in Northern Ireland. The Irish Times newspaper carried reported
an interview with Lord Brookeborough (former Prime Minister of Northern
Ireland).
Saturday
2 November 1968
There was a march in Derry by the
fifteen committee members of the Derry Citizen's Action Committee (DCAC). The
march took place over the route of the banned 5 October 1968 march. Thousands
of people walked behind the DCAC committee.
Monday
4 November 1968
Terence O'Neill, then Northern
Ireland Prime Minister, together with William Craig, then Home Affairs
Minister, and Brian Faulkner, then Minister of Commerce, met in Downing Street,
London with Harold Wilson, then British Prime Minister, and James Callaghan,
then British Home Secretary, for talks about the situation in Northern Ireland.
The British Prime Minister states that there will be no change in the
constitutional position of Northern Ireland without the consent of the Northern
Ireland population.
Friday
8 November 1968
Londonderry Corporation agreed to a
Nationalist request to introduce a points system in the allocation of public
sector housing.
Saturday
9 November 1968
Ian Paisley and Ronald Bunting led a
Loyalist march to the Diamond area of Derry.
Wednesday
13 November 1968
William Craig, then Home Affairs
Minister, banned all marches, with the exception of “customary” parades, in Derry
from 14 November 1968 to 14 December 1968. [The exception of “customary”
parades meant that Loyalist institutions could parade but civil rights marches
would be banned.]
Saturday 16 November 1968
Derry
Citizen’s Action Committee (DCAC) defied a ban on marched in Derry by marching
to the Diamond area of the city. An
estimated 15,000 people took part in the subsequent sit down demonstration in
the Diamond area of Derry.
Sunday
17 November 1968
A policy of civil disobedience was
adopted by the Nationalist Party at its annual conference.
Friday
22 November 1968
Reforms Package Announced
Terence
O'Neill, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, announced a package of reform
measures which had resulted from meetings in London with Harold Wilson,
then British Prime Minister, and James Callaghan, then British Home Secretary.
The five point reform plan included:
- a nine
member “Development Commission” to take over the powers of the Londonderry
Corporation;
- an ombudsman to investigate complaints against
government departments;
- the allocation of houses by local authorities to
be based on need;
- the Special Powers Act to be abolished as it was
safe to do so; and
- some reform of the local government franchise
(the end of the company votes).
Thursday
28 November 1968
The Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) became law and abolished university representation and the business
vote in Stormont elections. It also created four new constituencies and a
permanent Boundary Commission.
Saturday
30 November 1968
A Northern Ireland Civil Rights
Association (NICRA) march in Armagh was stopped by Royal Ulster Constabulary
(RUC) because of the presence of a Loyalist counter demonstration led by Ian
Paisley and Ronald Bunting. The Loyalist crowd then took over the centre of
Armagh. [Both Paisley and Bunting were imprisoned in January 1969 for unlawful
assembly during this counter protest.]
Wednesday
4 December 1968
Following a civil rights march in
Dungannon there was a violent clash between Loyalists and those who were taking
part in the march.
Monday
9 December 1968
Terence O'Neill, then Northern
Ireland Prime Minister, made a television appeal for moderate opinion in what
became known as the “Ulster stands at the Crossroads” speech. The speech
gained a lot of public support. The Derry Citizen's Action Committee (DCAC)
called a halt to all marches and protests for a period of one month.
Friday
20 December 1968
The People's Democracy (PD)
announced that its members would undertake a protest march from Belfast to
Derry beginning on 1 January 1969.
1969
Wednesday
1 January 1969
People’s Democracy March Began
Approximately
40 members of People's Democracy (PD) began a four-day march from Belfast
across Northern Ireland to Derry. The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association
(NICRA) and some Nationalists in Derry had advised against the march. The march
was modelled on Martin Luther King's Selma to Montgomery march. The first day
involved a walk from Belfast to Antrim. [Over the next four days the number of
people on the march grew to a few hundred. The march was confronted and
attacked by Loyalist crowds on a number of occasions the most serious attack
occurring on 4 January 1969.]
Thursday
2 January 1969
The People's Democracy (PD) march continued, on day two, from Antrim to
Maghera.
Friday
3 January 1969
The third day of the People's Democracy (PD) march took it from Maghera to
Claudy.
Saturday
4 January 1969
Burntollet Ambush
The
fourth, and final, day of the People's Democracy (PD) march took the marchers
from Claudy to Derry. Seven miles from its destination, the People's Democracy
(PD) march was ambushed and attacked by a Loyalist mob at Burntollet Bridge.
The ambush had been planned in advance and around 200 Loyalists, including
off-duty members of the “B-Specials”, used sticks, iron bars, bottles and
stones to attack the marchers, 13 of whom received hospital treatment. The
marchers believed that the 80 Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers, who accompanied
the march, did little to protect them from the Loyalist crowd. As the march
entered Derry it was again attached at Irish Street, a mainly Protestant area
of the city. Finally the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) broke up the rally
that was held in the centre of the city as the march arrived. This action, and
the subsequent entry of the RUC into the Bogside area of the city, led to
serious rioting.
Sunday
5 January 1969
Terence O'Neill, then Prime Minister
of Northern Ireland, issued a statement on the events since 1 January 1969.
Monday
3 February 1969
Terence O'Neill, then Northern
Ireland Prime Minister, announced the dissolution of the Stormont parliament
and the holding of an election on 24 February 1969.
Monday
24 February 1969
Stormont Election
An
election to the Stormont parliament was held. The main feature of this election
was the fragmentation of the Unionist party into “Official Unionist” and
“Unofficial Unionist”. Of the 39 unionist candidates returned in the election
27 were in support of the policies of Terence O'Neill, then Northern Ireland
Prime Minister, while 12 were against or undecided.
Friday
28 February 1969
Terence O'Neill was re-elected as
leader of the Unionist Parliamentary Party and thus was confirmed as Northern
Ireland Prime Minister.
Tuesday
11 March 1969
The Parliamentary Commissioner Bill
was introduced which would allow for the appointment of an Ombudsman to
investigate complaints against Stormont government departments.
Thursday
17 (18?) April 1969
In a by-election to the Westminster
parliament Bernadette Devlin, standing as a Unity candidate in Mid-Ulster, was
elected and, at 21 years of age, became the youngest woman ever to be elected
as Member of Parliament (MP).
Saturday
19 April 1969
There was serious rioting in the
Bogside area of Derry following clashes between Northern Ireland Civil Rights
Association (NICRA) marchers, and Loyalists and members of the Royal Ulster
Constabulary (RUC). A number of RUC officers entered the house of Samuel
Devenney, who had not been involved in the disturbances, and severely beat him
with batons causing internal injuries and a heart attack. He died on 16 July
1969 as a result of these injuries.
Tuesday
22 April 1969
Bernadette Devlin, Member of
Parliament (MP), made a controversial maiden speech in the House of Commons.
Wednesday
23 April 1969
The Unionist Parliamentary Party
voted by 28 to 22 to introduce universal adult suffrage in local government
elections in Northern Ireland. The demand for “one man, one vote” had been one
of the most powerful slogans of the civil rights movement. James
Chichester-Clarke, then Minister of Agriculture, resigned in protest at the
reform.
Monday
28 April 1969
As he was unable to regain the
confidence of the Unionist party Terence O'Neill, then Northern Ireland Prime
Minister, resigned to be replaced later by James Chichester-Clark.
Thursday
1 May 1969
James Chichester-Clark was elected
as leader of the Unionist party and succeeded Terence O'Neill as the Northern
Ireland Prime Minister. Brian Faulkner was appointed as Minister of
Development. Chichester-Clark announced that he would continue the reforms
began by Terence O'Neill.
Tuesday
6 May 1969
Chichester-Clark, then Northern Ireland
Prime Minister, announced an amnesty for all offences associated with
demonstrations since 5 October 1968 and this resulted in the release of, among
others, Ian Paisley and Ronald Bunting.
Tuesday
24 June 1969
The Parliamentary Commissioner Act
(Northern Ireland) became law. The act provided for a Commissioner to
investigate complaints of maladministration against government departments.
Tuesday
15 July 1969
Chichester-Clark, then Northern
Ireland Prime Minister, mobilised the “B-Specials”.
Friday
8 August 1969
James Chichester-Clark, then
Northern Ireland Prime Minister, held a meeting with James Callaghan, then
British Home Secretary, in London. Callaghan agreed to an increase in the
number of security force personnel. It was also decided to allow the annual
Apprentice Boys parade to go ahead in Derry.
Tuesday
12 August 1969
Battle of the Bogside Began
As
the Apprentice Boys parade passed close to the Bogside area serious rioting
erupted. The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), using armoured cars and water
cannons, entered the Bogside, in an attempt to end the rioting. The RUC were
closely followed by a Loyalist crowd. The residents of the Bogside forced the
police and the Loyalists back out of the area. The RUC used CS gas to again
enter the Bogside area. [What was to become known as the “Battle of the
Bogside” lasted for two days.]
Wednesday
13 August 1969
Serious rioting spread across
Northern Ireland from Derry to other Catholic areas stretching the Royal Ulster
Constabulary (RUC). The rioting deteriorated into sectarian conflict between
Catholics and Protestants and many people, the majority being Catholics, were
forced from their homes.
Jack Lynch, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), made a television address in
which he announced that “field hospitals” would be set up in border areas. He
went on to say that: "... the present situation is the inevitable outcome
of the policies pursued for decades by successive Stormont governments. It is
clear also that the Irish government can no longer stand by and see innocent
people injured and perhaps worse.”
Friday
29 August 1969
Following the visit to Northern
Ireland by James Callaghan, then British Home Secretary, a communiqué on behalf
of the Stormont and British governments was released. This communiqué set out a
number of further reforms mainly in the area of government administration.
Friday
12 September 1969
The Cameron Report (Cmd 532) into
disturbances in Northern Ireland was published. The Cameron inquiry had been
set up on 15 January 1969.
Thursday
9 October 1969
James Callaghan, then British Home
Secretary, made a second visit to Northern Ireland between 9 and 10 October
1969. Following meetings between Callaghan and the Stormont government, plans
for further reforms were agreed in a communiqué. The matters covered included:
the establishment of a central housing authority; reforms to the Royal Ulster
Constabulary, in light of the Hunt Report; reforms to the legal system; and the
issue of fair employment.
Friday
10 October 1969
The Hunt Report was published. The
Report recommends that: the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) should become an
unarmed force; the Ulster Special Constabulary (the “B Specials”) should be
disbanded; a new RUC Reserve should be set up; and a new locally recruited
part-time force should be established under the control of the British Army
[this force was to become the Ulster Defence Regiment, UDR]. Arthur Young was
appointed as Chief Constable of the RUC at the request of Harold Wilson, the
then British Prime Minister. Young was appointed to oversee the reforms
recommended in the Hunt Report. The publication of the report sparked serious
rioting by Loyalists in Belfast.
Tuesday
11 November 1969
The act establishing a Ministry for
Community relations was passed.
Tuesday
25 November 1969
The Commissioner for Complaints Act
(Northern Ireland) became law. The act allowed for the establishment of a
Commissioner to deal with complaints against local councils and public bodies.
The Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) became law. The main provision of the
act was to make the franchise in local government elections in Northern Ireland
the same as that in Britain.
Thursday
27 November 1969
A Commissioner for Complaints, John
Benn, was appointed to deal with matters related to local government and public
bodies.
1970
Thursday
26 March 1970
The Police (Northern Ireland) Act
became law. The act provided for the disarmament of the Royal Ulster
Constabulary (RUC) and the establishment of an RUC reserve force. The Act
established the Police Authority of Northern Ireland (PANI) which was meant to
contain representatives from across the community. [To the current day none of
the main Nationalist parties have ever taken part in the PANI.]
Tuesday
21 April 1970
The Alliance Party of Northern
Ireland (APNI) was founded. The founders of the party were attempting to appeal
to Catholics and Protestant to unite in support of moderate policies. [Oliver
Napier became leader of the party in 1972.]
Thursday
30 April 1970
The “B-Specials” (the Ulster Special
Constabulary) were officially disbanded. The USC had been replaced by the
Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) on 1 April 1970.
Friday
29 May 1970
The Macrory Report Review Body on
Local Government in Northern Ireland (Cmd 546) dealing with local government
structures was published. The main recommendation is the abolition of the old
structure of local government and its replacement with 26 new district
councils. The new system would also involve the creation of area boards to
manage the health, education, and library services in Northern Ireland. It was
envisaged that the control of the new system would rest with the Northern
Ireland government. [Following the introduction of direct rule on 30 March 1972
much of the control of the main services passed effectively to Westminster.
Elected councillors only had responsibility for a number of matters including
refuse collection, public conveniences, crematoria and cemeteries (“bins, bogs
and burials” as it was termed in Northern Ireland). The term “the Macrory Gap
was coined to highlight the lack of local accountability on the part of those
controlling the centralised services.]
Thursday
23 July 1970
A ban on parades and public
processions until January 1971 was announced by the Stormont government.
Monday
10 August 1970
Reginald Maulding, then British Home
Secretary, threatened to impose direct rule on Northern Ireland if the agreed
reform measures were not carried out.
Friday
21 August 1970
The Social and Democratic Labour
Party (SDLP) was established. The first leader of the party was Gerry Fitt and
the deputy leader John Hume. Other prominent members included, Paddy Devlin,
Austin Currie, Ivan Cooper, Paddy O'Hanlon and Paddy Wilson. [The party
effectively took over from most of the various Nationalist and Labour party
groupings and became the main political voice of Nationalists in Northern
Ireland until Sinn Fein began to contest elections in the early 1980s.]
Thursday
8 October 1970
The Social Democratic and Labour
Party (SDLP) proposed that a system of Proportional Representation (PR) should
be used in elections in Northern Ireland. [PR was introduced on 30 May 1973 for
local government elections.]
Sunday
11 October 1970
A claim of maladministration in
housing allocation against Dungannon Rural District Council was upheld by the
Commissioner for Complaints.
Thursday
29 October 1970
The Electoral Reform Society called
for the introduction of Proportional Representation (PR) in elections in
Northern Ireland.
Friday
30 October 1970
There were serious riots in the
Catholic Ardoyne area of Belfast which lasted for three nights.
Chichester-Clark, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, met with Reginald
Maudling, then British Home Secretary, on matters related to reforms and
security.
Thursday
12 November 1970
The Northern Ireland Housing
Executive (NIHE) was formed. [The NIHE gradually took over control of the
building and allocation of public sector housing in Northern Ireland. The
responsibility for public sector housing had previously rested with local
government and the Northern Ireland Housing Trust (NIHT). There had been many
allegations of discrimination in the provision and allocation of housing by the
various local government councils in Northern Ireland and this was the main
reason for setting up the Housing Executive.]
Thursday
19 November 1970
Figures were released by the
Commissioner for Complaints showing that there had been 970 complaints in the
first ten months of his office, with 74 of them alleging discrimination.
1971
Wednesday
20 January 1971
It was announced that an independent
commissioner would decide on the boundaries of the new district council areas.
Thursday
25 February 1971
The Housing Executive (Northern
Ireland) Act became law. The Act provided for the establishment for a central
authority for public sector housing in Northern Ireland and to also oversee the
provision of grants for improvement to the private sector. James
Chichester-Clark, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, held a meeting with
William Conway, then Catholic Cardinal of Ireland; the first such meeting since
1921.
Thursday
4 March 1971
The first meeting of the Northern
Ireland Housing Executive was held at Stormont. [The headquarters and regional
offices of the NIHE were to be the target of paramilitary attacks on many
occasions during “the Troubles”.]
Tuesday
23 March 1971
Brian Faulkner succeeds James
Chichester-Clark as Northern Ireland Prime Minister after defeating William
Craig in a Unionist Party leadership election. [Faulkner's tenure of office was
to prove very short.] The Local Government Boundaries (Northern Ireland) Act
became law. The Act provided for the appointment of a Boundaries Commissioner
to recommend the boundaries and names of district council and ward areas.
Thursday
13 May 1971
The decision to appoint a Director
of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland was announced.
Friday
18 June 1971
Social Democratic and Labour Party
(SDLP) and Nationalist Members of Parliament (MPs) refuse to attend the state
opening of Stormont.
Wednesday
22 June 1971
A system of committees to oversee
control of key government departments was proposed by Brian Faulkner, then
Northern Ireland Prime Minister. This system was seen as a way of providing a
role for opposition parties at Stormont. [The Social Democratic and Labour
Party (SDLP) initially welcomed the proposal but events were to result in the
withdrawal of the SDLP from Stormont.]
Friday
16 July 1971
The Social Democratic and Labour
Party (SDLP) withdrew from Stormont because no inquiry had been announced into
the shooting dead of Seamus Cusack and Desmond Beattie in Derry on 8 July 1971.
Monday
9 August 1971
Internment
In
a series of raids across Northern Ireland, 342 people were arrested and taken
to makeshift camps. There was an immediate upsurge of violence and 17 people
were killed during the next 48 hours. Of these 10 were Catholic civilians who
were shot dead by the British Army. Hugh Mullan (38) was the first Catholic
priest to be killed in the conflict when he was shot dead by the British Army
as he was giving the last rites to a wounded man. Winston Donnell (22) became
the first Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) solider to die in “the Troubles” when
he was shot by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) near Clady, County Tyrone. [There
were more arrests in the following days and months. Internment was to continue
until 5 December 1975. During that time 1,981 people were detained; 1,874 were
Catholic / Republican, while 107 were Protestant / Loyalist. Internment had
been proposed by Unionist politicians as the solution to the security situation
in Northern Ireland but was to lead to a very high level of violence over the
next few years and to increased support for the IRA. Even members of the
security forces remarked on the drawbacks of internment.]
Tuesday
10 August 1971
During the 9 August 1971 and the
early hours of the 10 August Northern Ireland experienced the worst violence
since August 1969. [Over the following days thousands of people (estimated at
7,000), the majority of them Catholics, were forced to flee their homes. Many
Catholic “refugees” moved to the Republic of Ireland, and have never returned
to Northern Ireland.]
Sunday
15 August 1971
The Social Democratic and Labour
Party (SDLP) announced that it was starting a campaign of civil disobedience in
response to the introduction of Internment. The SDLP also withdrew their
representatives from a number of public bodies.
Sunday
22 August 1971
Approximately 130 non-Unionist
councillors announced their withdrawal from participation on district councils
across Northern Ireland in protest against Internment.
Sunday
26 September 1971
David Bleakley resigned as Minister
of Community Relations in protest over the introduction of Internment and the
lack of any new political initiatives by the Northern Ireland government.
Monday
27 September 1971
There was a series of tripartite
talks, over two days, involving the prime ministers of Northern Ireland,
Britain, and the Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) of the Republic of Ireland,
which took place at Chequers, England.
Thursday
30 September 1971
Ian Paisley and Desmond Boal
launched the [Ulster] Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
Tuesday
5 October 1971
A new sitting of the Northern
Ireland parliament at Stormont began with the Social Democratic and Labour
Party (SDLP) absent. The SDLP met in an alternative assembly at Strabane town
hall.
Sunday
17 October 1971
It
was estimated that approximately 16,000 households were withholding rent and
rates for council houses as part of the campaign of civil disobedience
organised by the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). The campaign was in
protest against Internment and had begun on 15 August 1971.
Tuesday
19 October 1971
A group of five Northern Ireland
Members of Parliament (MPs) began a 48 hour hunger strike against Internment.
The protest took place near to 10 Downing Street in London. Among those taking
part were John Hume, Austin Currie, and Bernadette Devlin.
Friday
12 November 1971
It was announced that the Royal
Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was to be given automatic weapons to protect police
stations.
Tuesday
16 November 1971
The report of the Compton inquiry
was published. Report of the enquiry into allegations against the security
forces of physical brutality in Northern Ireland arising out of events on the 9th
August, 1971. (November 1971; Cmnd. 4832). The report acknowledged that there
had been ill-treatment of internees (what was termed “in-depth interrogation”)
but rejected claims of systematic brutality or torture.
Friday
31 December 1971
Edmund Compton, then Northern
Ireland Ombudsman, was replaced by John Benn.
1972
Sunday
2 January 1972
There was an anti-internment rally
in Belfast.
Tuesday
18 January 1972
Brian Faulkner, then Prime Minister
of Northern Ireland, banned all parades and marches in Northern Ireland until
the end of the year.
Saturday
22 January 1972
An anti-internment march was held at
Magilligan strand, County Derry, with several thousand people taking part. As
the march neared the internment camp it was stopped by members of the Green
Jackets and the Parachute Regiment of the British Army, who used barbed wire to
close off the beach. When it appeared that the marchers were going to go around
the wire, the army then fired rubber bullets and CS gas at close range into the
crowd. A number of witnesses claimed that the paratroopers (who had been bused
from Belfast to police the march) severely beat protesters and had to be
physically restrained by their own officers. John Hume accused the soldiers of
"beating, brutalising and terrorising the demonstrators".
There was also an anti-internment parade in Armagh, County Armagh.
Monday
24 January 1972
Frank Lagan, then Chief
Superintendent of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) notified Andrew
MacLellan, then Commander 8 Infantry Brigade, of his contact with the Civil
Rights Association, and informed him of their intention to hold a non-violent
demonstration protesting against Internment on 30 January 1972. He also asked
that the march be allowed to take place without military intervention.
MacLellan agreed to recommend this approach to General Ford, then Commander of
Land Forces in Northern Ireland. However Ford had placed Derek Wilford,
Commander of 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment, in charge of the proposed arrest
operation. [The broad decision to carry out arrests was probably discussed by
the Northern Ireland Committee of the British Cabinet. Edward Heath, then
British Prime Minister, confirmed on 19 April 1972 that the plan was known to
British government Ministers.]
Tuesday
25 January 1972
General Ford, then Commander of Land
Forces in Northern Ireland, put Andrew MacLellan, Commander 8 Infantry Brigade,
in overall command of the operation to contain the civil rights march planned
for 30 January 1972.
Friday
28 January 1972
The Northern Ireland Civil Rights
Association (NICRA), in an effort to avoid a repeat of the violence at Milligan
Strand on 22 January 1972, placed "special emphasis on the necessity for a
peaceful incident-free day" at the next NICRA march on 30 January 1972 (Irish
News, 28 January 1972). [According to a Channel 4 documentary Secret
History: Bloody Sunday, broadcast on 22 January 1992, Ivan Cooper, then a
Member of Parliament at Stormont, who was involved in the organisation of the
march, had obtained assurances from the Irish Republican Army (IRA) that its
members would withdraw from the area during the march.]
Sunday 30 January 1972 Bloody
Sunday
The Northern Ireland
Civil Rights Association march against internment was meant to start at 2.00
p.m. from the Creggan. The march left,
late (2.50 p.m. approximately), from Central Drive in the Creggan Estate and took
an indirect route towards the Bogside area of the city. People joined the march along its entire
route. At approximately 3.25 p.m. the
march passed the Bogside Inn and turned up Westland Street before going down
William Street. Estimates of the number
of marchers at this point vary. Some
observers put the number as high as 20,000 whereas the Widgery Report estimated
the number at between 3,000 and 5,000.
Around 3.45 p.m. most of the marchers followed the organisers
instructions and turned right into Rossville Street to hold a meeting at “Free
Derry Corner”. However a section of the
crowd continued along William Street to the British Army barricade. A riot developed. (Confrontations between the Catholic youth of
Derry and the British Army had become a common feature in life in the city and
many observers reported that the rioting was not particularly intense).
At approximately 3.55
p.m., away from the riot and also out of sight of the meeting, soldiers in a
derelict building opened fire (shooting 5 rounds) and injured Damien Donaghy
(15) and John Johnston (59). Both were
treated for injuries and were taken to hospital. John Johnston died on 16 June 1972. Also around this time (about 3.55 p.m.) as
the riot in William Street was breaking up, paratroopers requested permission to
begin an arrest operation. By about 4.15
p.m. most people had moved to “Free Derry Corner” to attend the meeting.
4.07 p.m.
(approximately). An order was given for
a “sub unit” (Support Company) of the 1st Battalion Parachute
Regiment to move into William Street to begin an arrest operation specifically
stated that the soldiers were “not to conduct running battle down Rossville
Street” (Official Brigade Log). The
soldiers of Support Company were under the command of Ted Loden, then a Major
in the Parachute Regiment (and were the only soldiers to fire at the crowd from
street level). At approximately 4.10
p.m. soldiers of the Support Company of the 1st Battalion Parachute
Regiment began to open fire on the marchers in the Rossville Street area. By about 4.40 p.m. the shooting ended with 13
people dead and a further 13 injured from gunshots.
(Most of the basic facts
are agreed, however what remains in dispute is whether or not the soldiers came
under fire first. The soldiers claimed
to have come under sustained attack by gunfire and nailbomb. None of the eyewitness accounts of those shot
saw any gun or bomb being used. No
soldiers were injured in the operation, no guns or bombs were recovered at the
scene of the shooting).
Monday
31 January 1972
Reginald Maudling, then British Home
Secretary, made a statement to the House of Commons on the events of “Bloody
Sunday”: "The Army returned the fire directed at them with aimed shots and
inflicted a number of casualties on those who were attacking them with firearms
and with bombs". Maudling then went on to announce an inquiry into the
circumstances of the march.
Tuesday
1 February 1972
Edward Heath, then British Prime
Minister, announced the appointment of Lord Widgery, then Lord Chief Justice,
to undertake an inquiry into the 13 deaths on “Bloody Sunday”. The response of
the people of Derry to this choice of candidate, was for the most part one of
scepticism and a lack of confidence in his ability to be objective. Indeed a
number of groups in Derry initially called for non-participation in the
tribunal but many were persuaded later to given evidence to the inquiry.
There was an Opposition adjournment debate in the House of Commons on the
subject of “Bloody Sunday”. During the debate the then Minister of State for
Defence gave an official version of events and went on to say: "We must
also recognise that the IRA is waging a war, not only of bullets and bombs but
of words.... If the IRA is allowed to win this war I shudder to think what will
be the future of the people living in Northern Ireland."
The Ministry of Defence also issued a detailed account of the British Army's
version of events during “Bloody Sunday” which stated that: "Throughout
the fighting that ensued, the Army fired only at identified targets - at
attacking gunmen and bombers. At all times the soldiers obeyed their standing
instructions to fire only in self-defence or in defence of others
threatened."
Harold Wilson, then leader of the Labour Party, said that a United Ireland was
the only solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland. William Craig, then Home
Affairs Minister, suggested that the west bank area of Derry should be ceded to
the Republic of Ireland.
Wednesday
2 February 1972
The funerals of 11 of the dead of
“Bloody Sunday” took place in the Creggan area of Derry. Tens of thousands
attended the funeral including clergy, politicians from North and South, and
thousands of friends and neighbours. Throughout the rest of Ireland prayer
services were held to coincide with the time of the funerals. In Dublin over 90
per cent of workers stopped work in respect of those who had died, and
approximately 30,000 - 100,000 people turned out to march to the British
Embassy. They carried 13 coffins and black flags. Later a crowd attacked the
Embassy with stones and bottles, then petrol bombs, and the building was burnt
to the ground.
Wednesday
22 March 1972
Brian Faulkner, then Prime Minister
of Northern Ireland, went to London to be informed of the introduction of
“Direct Rule”.
Friday
24 March 1972
Edward Heath, then British Prime
Minister, announced that the Stormont Parliament was to be prorogued, and
“Direct Rule” from Westminster imposed on Northern Ireland on 30 March 1972.
The announcement was greeted with outrage from Brian Faulkner and Unionist
politicians. Edward Heath, then British Prime Minister, made that announcement.
The main reason for the suspension of Stormont was the refusal of Unionist
government to accept the loss of law and order powers to Westminster.
[The legislation responsible for direct rule was the Northern Ireland
(Temporary Provisions) Act. Under the legislation a new Northern Ireland Office
(NIO) was established at Stormont which was supervised by a new Secretary of
State for Northern Ireland, William Whitelaw.]
[Whitelaw eases internment, gives political status to prisoners because of
Billy McKee's hunger strike.]
Sunday
26 March 1972
William Whitelaw, was appointed as
the first Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Thursday 30 March 1972
The legislation which introduced
direct rule, the Northern Ireland (Temporary Provisions) Act, was passed at
Westminster.